New Roommate!

This week was one of relaxing and not too much adventure. Despite how much I love always doing something, it isn't too bad to take a while and enjoy the Sevillano sun that has decided to make its appearance. I was a bit sick this weekend so I opted for sleep over going out, although I did have a little solo dance party in my living room.

The big news of this week is that Rebecca has moved into my apartment! We are finally living together...something that should have happened 6 months ago. Both of my previous roommates moved out, but I was only sans roommate for one night before Rebecca moved in. We are still waiting to see if we will have another roommate, but, for now, the apartment is very clean and spacious. I am infinitely happier living in the center and love this new place. It has an amazing roof with chairs and a table, so I've been spending time up there in the afternoons and might even develop a tan.

I have been attending Sevillanas classes at my gym, and they have been quite challenging. Sevillanas is a type of flamenco-style dance that originated here. Knowing the dance will come in handy during Feria, a big festival in the spring. The class is full of American study abroad students, and we spend most of the class bumping into each other and tripping over our feet. But this week was the first week where I actually kind of felt like I knew what I was doing and even got my arms going, which are integral, but difficult to coordinate, parts of the dance. I hope by the end of my gym membership, I'll have the dances down and can spin my way through Feria.

Pick-Bagging Can Happen To Anyone

Me and Xanthe on her last night in Sevilla

This week marked exactly halfway through my year of teaching. I know this because Julie and I swapped teaching schedules, so now I am teaching on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I realize that working three days per week is a luxury, but most Auxiliares get Friday off so it is difficult for me to wake up at 6:30 am on a day when everyone else gets to lounge around. Besides that bit of complaining, my new classes seem good so far, and it is nice to get to know a new group of students, although I was just getting close to my old classes. Some of the groups have remained the same, but there are a lot of new faces and names to learn now.

On Tuesday, I had a lovely day of relaxation with some girl friends at Aire de Sevilla, the Arab Baths in Santa Cruz. It was like I was transported back to Morocco while remaining in Spain. There were 6 different baths and rooms (bathrooms?) that we spent 1.5 hours floating around in. My favorite was the warm salt water bath that I floated in effortlessly. Besides my shriveled skin, I could have stayed there forever. It was nice to relax after all the stress of moving.

Me and Anna

On Friday night, despite extreme exhaustion, I went out to bid farewell to two of my Erasmus friends, Nite and Xanthe. It was a fun night but very bittersweet because it was the last time I would see them for who knows how long. I plan to visit Nite in Amsterdam and hopefully will make it to visit Xanthe in Portugal, but I wish they did not have to leave me.

Saturday was not so fun. I fell victim to the infamous pick-pocketing (or, in my case, pick-bagging) of Europe. At some point while enjoying a coffee on a gorgeous, sunny afternoon with Rebecca, someone got into my bag and took my wallet. I have no idea how they pulled it off without me feeling it or anyone seeing it happen (especially since Rebecca was sitting right across from me) but the sneaky dude got what he wanted. I wish he was a nice thief and would just take the money and leave the wallet with all my cards somewhere for a good samaritan or police officer to find it. After canceling my credit cards (he had tried to use it at an ATM but didn't know my PIN), I went to a police station and filed a report. I think that was my first official printed police report, but I wish I had not had to file one. Now my next few days or however long it takes will consist of obtaining new versions of all the cards I lost. ¡Qué lástima! Now I have learned my lesson to NEVER let my bag out of my sight. Don't let it happen to you either. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, especially since the following night consisted of nightmares and self-hatred for having let it happen to me.

Sevilla Marathon

This morning, I went to watch the Sevilla Marathon! It was a lot of fun, although it was probably one of the quietest marathons in the world. My group of friends was basically the only ones cheering. We saw the runners in the front who make my running look like a turtle sleeping. They were flying and did not look like they had already run 24 miles. Then we left for a bit to make posters for Julie's friend who was running and came back to see a much denser pack of runners. I cheered for the guy I met at the bosque suspendida and our gym teacher on a bike next to him. We cheered for anyone who even slightly acknowledged us and went crazy for a girl with a USA shirt. Watching it was very fun, but it made me feel quite unaccomplished. I'll go to the gym later to make up for that, though. :-P

Watch your bags, people. 

I Like To Move It, Move It!

My new room

This week, I moved to a new apartment in the center of the city! I had felt too isolated in my old apartment, so I moved my loads of stuff to a new house very close to all the action of the city. It is a casa Sevillana with three floors and beautiful tiles on the bottom floor. The landlord lives downstairs and there are two pisos of foreign girls on the other floors. I currently live with two very nice girls from France and Germany, but, unfortunately, they are leaving within the month because their programs are finished here. I am terrified that my landlord won't be able to find replacement roommates, but hopefully that will not be the case and I will have new friends. My new room is huge, but quite cold in this weather. It is nice having a lot of space, though. The apartment is not as modern as my old one, but it is very homey, and, besides the dribbling shower, everything works. I am still settling in, but I feel very comfortable here and love the surrounding area and lovely roof.

My new kitchen

My first night sleeping here was the absolute coldest of my life. I had very thin, hair-covered blankets to hide under and no heater. I wore a winter hat, sweatshirt, fleece jacket, two pairs of socks, and used my computer charger as a heater, but I was still freezing. When I took a shower in the morning with almost no water in a freezing bathroom, I've never shivered harder in my life. To top it all off, I got totally lost trying to find my ride to school that morning. Luckily, they waited for me for a long time while I took a bus to meet them, but it was a truly terrible morning. That day, I bought a lovely comforter and a heater, and my nights have been much better since then. I'm still not looking forward to my freezing 6:30 am wake ups, but at least I have figured out where to meet my carpool.

My new living room

This week, I also joined a gym! I'm very excited about it and have been loving working out. Despite all the walking I do here, I really missed a good turn on the elliptical, and I'm looking forward to going to classes this week. Plus, I seem to know a ton of people who belong to the gym so it is social hour too. The place is teeming with American study abroad students - I'm pretty sure Spanish is the second language there.

Carmona

On Friday, Rebecca and I did a lovely day trip to Carmona, a town about an hour outside of Sevilla. It was really gorgeous and relaxing to be out of the city. Plus, it was a warm and sunny day. We climbed around a fortress and saw an amazing view of the city and the countryside. We wandered around the town for a while and saw some tourist sites and churches. The best part of the day was a stroll on the cactus-lined road outside of the city. We found a group of goats hanging out and were just being friendly to them when a huge dog came out of nowhere and barked us out of there. I was preeeeetty scared, but there was a barbed-wire fence so we survived. We hiked up a giant hill and had a long and relaxing lunch at the top. I had delicious scrambled eggs with cod and prawns, and we shared a chestnut pudding for dessert. It was so nice just looking out at the campo and enjoying the day with nothing else to do. Then we stepped into a very famous hotel there and wished we could stay the night. It reminded me a lot of Morocco. Before going home, we went to explore the Roman necropolis, but it was unimpressive. Overall, it was great town to visit and nice to do some mini-traveling.

View from the hill in Carmona

Friday night was party night! It was the last day of exams for my Erasmus friends, so they were excited to celebrate. We hung out at their house for a long time, and I met some awesome Spanish guys who were picking on me for most of the night. Then we went out to dance at Buddha. I had a wonderful time breaking it down, but the music wasn't amazing, so it could have been even better. Everyone was so fun to dance with, so we stayed there until 5 am.

Me, Carlos, Rebecca, Anna, and Clair

On Sunday evening, I went outside of my comfort zone and did an intercambio with a random person. I emailed this guy that I found on a website, and we decided to meet in the Alameda. I was very nervous beforehand that we wouldn't have things to talk about or that it would be awkward, but it went very well. He was very cute (bonus!) and really friendly and talkative. Unfortunately, English dominated the conversation. We started out talking in Spanish, and I felt quite comfortable speaking, but then he switched to English. He was very good at speaking and wants to be an English teacher. But the conversation was good and we talked for two hours. Hopefully we will meet again soon, and I will insist that we speak more Spanish. I have also been emailing many other people to set up intercambios, so I should be practicing more soon.

Cabras en Carmona